More Than They Seem
by PurpleForDonnie
Summary: <html><head></head>Rena Kiyoko used to have strange nightmares about a man in black. They've returned stronger than ever. When she meets the Shibuya Psychic Research team during their case in a church, it seems that something is trying to get Rena and Father Brown together, while something else is trying to tear them apart. Were they destined to fall in love,or are things more than they seem? John/OC</html>
1. Chapter 1

**** Hi! Please let me know what you think! I don't have this story actually finished, so I'll be writing it as I go along! Please give me any advice you may have! Thank you! ^_^ **

**:: I do not own Ghost Hunt or any of the characters besides my OCs! ::**

Chapter One: The Nightmares

Rena Kiyoko was going stark, raving mad, and there was nothing she could do about it.

She was dreaming. Oh, yes, she was completely aware of the fact that she was asleep, but she'd had this dream countless times before.

Rena knew what was coming.

If she didn't believe herself to be a lunatic, maybe she would have actually fought against the dream... But, no.

She'd given in to the fact that she was losing her mind, and welcomed the dream with open- albeit, trembling- arms.

The dream she'd been having was more of a nightmare, really, but she'd seen it so many times that she'd moved on to critically analysing it.

Rena started out by walking down a dark corridor. Everything was completely silent, and she found herself almost trying to shield herself from the quiet.

Then, suddenly, she was outside, in what appeared to be nothing but bright sunlight. The light would be so bright that it almost burned her eyes. But she knew she had to keep staring into the light... Because there was something in the light that she had to see...

Rena squinted a bit, and finally saw him. It was a boy, or a man, she couldn't tell.

He was walking out of the light, towards her, in some sort of black robes.

The rays of sunlight burst from behind him, making his face darken in shadow. No matter how hard Rena tried, she couldn't see his face.

The mysterious man continued to walk toward her, and Rena suddenly became overwhelmed with the thought that she had to get to him. She had to help him. She had to reach out and stop him, or something bad was going to happen.

But she couldn't move her arms at all, and her voice had disappeared as well. It seemed there was nothing she could do to stop the man.

Helplessness made tears prick at the back of Rena's eyes, as she frantically struggled to call out to the mysterious person.

And finally, the man vanished into thin air, leaving behind the gloomy sense that something terrible had just happened-

Rena sat up in bed, her eyes wide, her lungs rapidly drawing in air.

She was silent for a few moments, trying to allow her heartbeat to return to normal. Rena clutched the blankets around her, trying to visualise the man's face from her dream, but she drew a blank.

"I need to get a hold of myself. I'm losing my mind," Rena whispered to herself as she stared into the darkness around her.

She took a deep breath and collapsed back into bed.

...

The waiting room was very quiet, although there was another person in the chair a few away from her's.

Rena tapped her foot against the cold linoleum tiling, and tried to calm her frazzled nerves.

The room was bright, and the man sitting a few chairs down glanced in her direction curiously.

His expression clearly read: What sort of lunatic are you, anyway?

But Rena didn't acknowledge his invasive staring, and continued to tap her foot.

Suddenly, the secretary at the main desk looked over at the both of them.

"Kiyoko Rena," the secretary said. "Doctor Yurigawa can see you now."

Rena's heart thudded heavily as she stood up and walked to the door the secretary had pointed out.

"Thank you," Rena bowed slightly to the secretary, and put her hand on the cold doorknob to let herself in.

She walked into a room that was dimly lit. There was navy blue carpeting and brown walls, and slightly out-of-date furniture. The room had obviously been set up to make the visitor feel comfortable, but Rena did not feel comfortable here at all.

An elderly man approached her suddenly with more life than usual for his age. He had white hair and brown eyes that seemed to smile.

"Welcome, Kiyoko-san," he greeted, giving her a small bow.

Rena bowed back politely, giving the friendly man a smile.

"Please, call me Rena," she replied. "After all, this isn't the first appointment I've made with you."

"Of course, of course," Doctor Yurigawa smiled again, taking her by the hand. "Please take a seat, and we can begin discussing your past history here."

Rena quickly sat down in the armchair that was placed in front of the man's desk. He resumed his own seat, and patiently folded his hands on the desk, giving her a cursory glance.

"So, Rena," he started, "and how have you been doing?"

Rena gulped and avoided his confident gaze by staring at the hideous shade of blue in the carpets.

"Honestly... Not too well," she admitted uncomfortably.

"I see," Yurigawa stated, as she finally met his eyes. "From what I remember of your condition, several years ago you started having strange nightmares, is that correct?"

"Yes," Rena replied.

"And I assume you're back years later because the nightmares have returned?" Yurigawa continued.

"You're right," Rena whispered, almost feeling ashamed of herself.

"Are they the same dreams as before?" Yurigawa inquired.

Rena swallowed a lump that had formed in her throat, and slowly shook her head in reply.

"No... These are different," she finally answered.

The psychiatrist was quiet for a moment, pondering her words.

"Tell me about them," he said, patiently.

So Rena quickly gave him a recap of the strange reoccurring nightmare she'd had of the boy in black robes, the panic, and the blinding sunlight. The doctor nodded silently as she told him everything. Although Rena still felt a bit guilty somehow, it felt nice to finally get everything off her chest for once.

"So..." Yurigawa started after she had finished telling her story. "The way I see it, this dream is most likely symbolic of any stress you're going through at the moment. The man in black robes could be your mind's interpretation of something you think is bad, maybe something you don't usually do. And the sunlight could be representative of you seeing what you originally thought of as bad in a different light."

Rena thought about his words, but something about them didn't settle right with her for some reason.

"You think so?" Rena asked, hesitantly.

"Of course," the doctor assured her. "When you were a child, you went though quite a trauma. It's not common for a child to see their own mother die. Obviously, there will be repercussions from this. You only have to get through them one at a time."

Rena nodded, knowing his words were true.

"And, from what I see," Yurigawa continued, "these nightmares are closely related to the ones in your past. According to your file here, two of your dreams in the past also mentioned a man in black robes. He seems to be a recurring figure for you."

"Yes," Rena replied. "I remember."

"Have you been taking your prescribed medications?" Yurigawa inquired, pushing his glasses up a bit farther.

Rena hesitated, guiltily.

"Well... Most of the time," she answered honestly.

The doctor quirked an eyebrow at her in surprise.

"Well, that could be your problem right there," he stated, leaning back in his chair. "I'll bet if you try returning to the correct dosage of your medication, your nightmares will go away immediately."

Rena squeezed her eyes shut in frustration, and she took deep breaths to quell the nausea rising from her abdomen.

"I... I can't take my medication anymore," she explained. "I can't do it. It makes me sick to my stomach, and my mind gets fuzzy. Whenever I take it, it's as if I'm walking around in a haze."

The doctor seemed to sigh at her words.

"It may seem like that now, but you must believe me when I say that your medication is designed to help you," he replied. "You suffered a great tragedy, and you need a bit of help now. Your medication can do that for you."

Rena suddenly didn't feel like arguing with him any more. She stood up quickly, with a polite nod in his direction.

"I understand, doctor. Thank you for your time," she said. "I apologise for cutting our appointment short, but I'm late for something."

Yurigawa stood up as well, and walked her to the door, a hand on her shoulder.

"Please let me know if anything changes, Rena," he said as she opened the door.

Rena nodded.

"Of course," she replied. "Thank you."

...

Rena walked down the busy city sidewalks, taking the long route back to her home.

This was something that Rena never did: on a usual day, she either took the train or walked the shortcut. She had purposely chosen the path that went across the city so she would have time to think.

Yurigawa had presented a reasonable case, much to Rena's disappointment.

Maybe she did need to go back on her medications, after all.

She'd been prescribed them when she was fifteen years old, a year or so after she'd witnessed the incident that had scarred her for life and torn apart her family.

And after she started taking the medication, her strange nightmares had gone away.

But the cloudy mind was just something she couldn't live with... It was as if she weren't even alive anymore, just walking around in a dream. Sometimes she lost whole hours, unable to remember a thing.

So after four years, she decided that enough was enough, and had zipped the medication up in a secret pouch in her purse, never to be taken out again.

And as soon as she had stopped the pills, the nightmares returned.

Rena continued walking down the street, pushing gently past the throngs of people.

As she walked, she could hear the rattle of her medicine bottle, in her purse, and wondered for a moment if she shouldn't stop and take some...

Suddenly-

Rena wasn't on the streets anymore-

She was seeing flashes of something-

She saw a Christian church, with a large white cross standing from the roof- the sign read: You Are Never Alone- Answer To Jesus.

Rena lost the sight for a moment, and she bent over, holding her temple and breathing heavily.

It was like her nightmares, but she was awake this time-

What was going on-?

She saw the crowds of people walking past her, as normal, but then the church was back-

Not like she was seeing it- but as if she were remembering it- or- or-

There was a van, she saw a van-

it pulled up not in the parking lot but right up on the side of the street, for some reason- the van had words printed in small font on the side that a person could have missed if they weren't looking for it- Shibuya Psychic Research-

The door to the van opened, and someone stumbled out. It looked as if two people inside the van were arguing, and someone fell out-

It was a man with blond hair, wearing an orange shirt and blue jeans-

He caught himself in time so he didn't fall completely down, but then his foot caught in the sewer grates, and he tripped right into the streets-

Into the oncoming traffic-

The man looked up at a giant truck that couldn't stop in time- his arm raised as if that could shield him somehow-

"John-!" someone screamed from inside the van-

Rena blinked, and she was back on the sidewalks.

Everyone was agitatedly walking around her, wondering why she had stopped right in the middle of the path, but Rena didn't care. Her heart was pounding so frantically, she actually felt lightheaded.

What the hell?

That was a first.

She'd never had one of her dreams while she was actually awake before.

Rena was still more than a little rattled at the vision, but she had to get home. Although it was an uncharacteristically warm December day, it still looked as if it were about to rain, and she didn't even have a jacket.

She knew a cold front would be coming into the area soon, bringing usual almost-Christmas weather.

She hoisted her purse farther up her shoulder and continued walking.

With a glance up at the sky, she heard as thunder rolled ominously in the distance.

And then Rena stopped dead in her tracks-

Because across the street, to the left, there was a giant church, with a large white cross jutting from the roof.

"What-?!" Rena gasped, flinching back a bit in surprise. She stared at the church for a moment, and then gasped to catch her breath. "It has to be a coincidence. That's all. Just a coincidence."

She took another step to walk home, but then her eyes fixated on the sign that was displayed to the highway: You Are Never Alone- Answer To Jesus.

"No... way," she breathed, as her heart hitched it's way into her throat. "But- but then that means-"

Rena watched as a van suddenly pulled up against the curb-

Shibuya Psychic Research was written on the side.

Rena took off sprinting to the van, without even realising it. She was compelled to run- almost the same type of compulsions she'd had in her dreams before, but this wasn't a dream.

This time, it was real.

The door to the van opened, and Rena watched as the blonde boy staggered out as if he'd tripped.

"Hey- you!" Rena screamed, but knew it wouldn't do any good.

She illegally cut across the highway, almost being hit by several cars on her way, but she had to get there in time-

"John-!" someone inside the van screamed in terror.

Rena made it across and grabbed the boy's arm, just as the large truck's horn blared, telling them to get out of the highway.

She yanked the man out of the road and they both fell against the side of the Shibuya van, tripping over each other and landing in a heap on the sidewalk.

The truck slammed past them, not even tapping the breaks, the driver yelling angry words at them from the window.

Rena was still on the ground, but she was trembling with relief.

"Hey!" a man suddenly poked his head out of the Shibuya van and waved an angry fist at the truck driver who had almost killed them. "Watch where you're going next time!"

Rena suddenly remembered that she was practically laying on top of the poor blond man, so she stood up quickly.

"I- I'm so sorry!" Rena apologised. "I didn't mean to land on you!"

The blond boy looked up at her with wide blue eyes, a faint blush staining his cheeks pink.

"Don't apologise," he said in a thick Australian accent. He rubbed the back of his neck, still sitting on the ground. "Ya did jus' save my life and all."

Rena stared at him for a moment, his accent throwing her off at first, but she recovered quickly.

"Oh- let me help you!" she offered, reaching a hand out to help the blond boy stand back up.

He regained his balance and wiped the dust off of his clothing, mumbling a highly embarrassed, "Thanks."

"Hey, you," the man who had waved an angry fist at the truck driver had hopped out of the van and was approaching Rena with a look of curiosity. He was very tall, with dark blond hair pulled back into a low ponytail. His t-shirt said, "Screamerz".

"Um... Yes?" Rena asked.

"How did you know John was getting ready to trip over that grate?" the tall man inquired, almost sounding suspicious of her.

Rena scratched her head, trying to feign innocence where there was none.

"Oh, that!" she exclaimed. "I- I don't know- I saw him stumble and figured I needed to help-"

"Don't pull that," the tall man replied, leaning toward her to study her with narrowed eyes. "I saw you sprinting to get over here as soon as we pulled up! John here wasn't even out of the van yet!"

As Rena desperately tried to find some sort of reasonable explanation for her strange behaviour, several other people started filing out of the Shibuya van.

There was an extremely tall dark-haired man who left the driver's side. Then another dark-haired man got out, but he was shorter and dressed all in black. Three girls got out as well: one in a kimono, one tiny one with brown hair, and one taller woman with red hair.

The blond called John reached down and picked up Rena's purse, which she had dropped in the action. Of course, it had fallen in the street, and the large truck had run it over.

"Er... I think this belongs to you," John told her, sadly, as he handed her the black and flattened purse.

Rena took it from him, knowing that her pills had been inside, and she burst into laughter.

Everyone threw odd glances her way, except the tall man who had been trying to interrogate her earlier.

"I'll bet the truck driver hit your purse on purpose," he crossed his arms in agitation. Then, he turned more fully toward her, his expression softening a bit. "Hey, sorry for being kind of rude earlier. I didn't mean to snap at you."

"It's alright," Rena replied with a smile, waving a hand in the air.

"Are you both okay?!" the small brunette girl in the pink skirt and green shirt exclaimed worriedly, running up to them from the van.

"Yeah," John replied, rubbing his neck again. He turned around to face Rena, looking a bit sheepish. "Thanks for pushin' me out the way. You didn't get hurt, did you?"

"Oh, no!" Rena said, suddenly embarrassed by all the attention. "I'm fine!"

A dark-haired man approached her, the shorter one wearing all black like some sort of man in mourning, and motioned toward her arm.

"You're bleeding," he stated in a monotone, quiet voice.

Rena looked down at her elbow, which had been scratched during the fall.

"Don't worry about it!" Rena replied. "It's just a scratch!"

"I'd still like for you to come with us, any how," the dark-haired man added, apathetically. His voice made Rena feel uncomfortable, with it's lack of emotion.

The girls all started walking up to the steps of the church, throwing interested glances to Rena.

"Um..." Rena started, unsure whether or not to trust the strangers she had just met. On the other hand, they were going inside a church. What kind of harm could come to her inside of a church? "Alright," she finally replied. "But why?"

The dark-haired man glanced back her way, and started walking toward the church, almost making her follow him.

"Because I'm afraid Takigawa was correct in his accusations," the man told her. "You were running toward the van before Father Brown even had the door open."

Rena only gaped up at him, her mind not certain what he was trying to get at.

"What... What does that mean?" she asked.

"It means that we must run some tests," he replied, no longer looking at her.

Rena looked around, a tad worried. It was all happening so fast.

The blond, John, met her gaze and gave her an encouraging smile before following the tall pony-tailed man up the stairs.

Rena gulped and walked behind them, wondering what the hell was even going on.


	2. Chapter 2

***Thank youuuu for reading! Please give me any criticism you have, or just let me know what you thought! :-) **

**I also unfortunately do not own Ghost Hunt. I only own my OCs! Peace out. ***

Chapter Two: Card Tricks

The taller dark-haired man sat in a chair before a computer that everyone had carried in, staring at Rena as he studied the screen and wrote things down on small blank pieces of paper.

Everyone had gone to carry in all of the team's equipment, as Rena had apparently caught them in the middle of some sort of investigation, which left the tall dark-haired man, Rena, the short dark-haired man, and the small brunette girl.

Now that Rena was indoors, she realised something strange.

The tall dark-haired man and the short dark-haired man both seemed to... radiate power.

Their presences were so strong in the small room that Rena felt quite intimidated.

"So... What are we doing again?" Rena inquired, looking around at them all.

The brunette girl jumped forward, seeming excited to explain.

"Well, see, Lin here is going to make some cards, and you're going to guess which of the four symbols is on the one that he holds up!" The brunette girl smiled happily at Rena.

"Okay," Rena said, glancing around at them all. "While he's doing that, do you mind telling me your names? I'm Rena Kiyoko."

"I'm Mai Taniyama, and this is Kazuya Shibuya! He owns Shibuya Psychic Research, but you can call him Naru," the girl happily introduced. "This is Lin. He does the technology around here."

As each person walked into the room, carrying computers and screens and such, Mai introduced them all.

"This is Masako Hara, and this is Ayako Matsuzaki," Mai added. "And this is Hosho Takigawa, but you can call him Monk!"

The tall man with the blond ponytail walked into the room, carrying monitors, and gave Rena a wink as he passed her up.

"And you already know John Brown," Mai finished as the short blond Australian boy followed, carrying what looked like a computer tower and several cords.

"It's nice to meet you all," Rena bowed at them from her seat.

"I'm finished," Lin suddenly said, holding the cards up in his hands so everyone could see.

Those who had been carrying in the equipment stopped to watch the test, and gathered around curiously.

"Miss Kiyoko, Mai has already informed you of how this test works," Naru started in his emotionless voice. "Lin will hold up a card, and you will guess which symbol you believe to be on the other side of it. Understand?"

"Yes," Rena replied.

Naru nodded at Lin, who took four cards from the top of the stack.

"There are four symbols available," Lin explained. He flipped one card right side up onto the table. There were three wavy lines. "Water." He flipped another. It had a yellow circle. "Light." Another. It had a brown square. "Earth." Another. It had a blue cross. "Spirit."

Rena watched as he put each card back at the end of the deck, and then shuffled them quickly to mix them up.

"Let's begin," Lin said. He set the deck on the table and spread them out face-down. Taking his hand, he held his fingers above the cards and suddenly snatched one from the deck.

Lin held it in the air, symbols towards himself so all Rena could see was a blank white paper. It was impossible for her to see through to the other side because of the thickness of the paper.

It was quiet.

"Which symbol is it?" Lin asked.

"Spirit," Rena replied, without even thinking.

Lin watched her for a moment, then flipped the card so she could see. A blue cross was on the paper, and Rena's heart thumped in her throat.

"That is correct," Lin said.

"It could just be a coincidence," Monk said, leaning his hands against the table. "We'll have to do more to be able to tell for sure."

Lin picked up another card after a slight hesitation.

"Which symbol is it?" he asked again.

"Spirit," Rena's mouth said of it's own accord. She wasn't speaking- it was as if something else was doing it for her.

Lin flipped the card around to reveal another blue cross.

Everyone in the room seemed surprised, so Lin picked up another card, holding it up, giving it a long stare.

"It's spirit again," Rena found herself saying. "They're blue crosses- all of them are blue crosses."

Lin gave her a surprised expression, then hurriedly reached over to flip all of the cards.

Every piece of paper on the table flipped over to reveal blue crosses, and everyone in the room seemed to gasp all at once.

"Lin, why did you only make cards for Spirit?" Naru demanded. "That's not how this works."

"I didn't," Lin replied, bewildered. "I made five cards for each symbol."

"I saw him," John added. "I walked by earlier and he was makin' a card for water."

The room grew silent as everyone stared at the cards that were laid out on the table.

"This can only mean one thing," Naru stated. "I can only determine from this that Miss Kiyoko has very powerful psychic abilities."

Everyone waited for Naru to continue, but he didn't.

"Well, what kind of psychic abilities does she have?" the woman named Ayako threw in, crossing her arms over her chest.

"That's something we'll have to wait to find out," Naru concluded, turning back to the technology that everyone had loaded into the room. "Miss Kiyoko, I would appreciate your assistance in this case. If you don't mind, I'd like you to stay here at the church with us. I'd be paying you for your time, of course."

Rena looked over at him in surprise, feeling her body start to shake.

"I- I can't have psychic abilities," Rena stuttered.

"Why not?" Mai asked, from her spot next to Ayako.

"B-because the doctors told me that my strange nightmares were because of grief- that it was only in my head," Rena replied.

"If it really was all in your head, John would have been a goner," Monk threw in, hands on his hips.

"You all really believe that I have some sort of psychic abilities?" Rena inquired, looking around at everyone in disbelief.

It wasn't but an hour ago that Rena thought she'd have to go back on her medication, and now she was being told that she could help this research group with their case.

"We do," Naru added, still completely emotionless.

Rena hugged herself around her chest and hesitated a moment to think.

"Alright," Rena agreed. "If you actually think I could be of help to you guys, then I'll stay."

"Good," Naru stated. "Then let's go over the details of the case."

...

Everyone had been gathered in a main hall type of room, but someone suddenly opened a set of double-doors that led into the worshiping area.

Pews lined each side of the large room, brown and red, and giant stained-glass windows let through colourful light.

It was so rare to find a Catholic Church in this section of Japan, and old memories immediately came rushing back into Rena's mind.

As soon as she stepped into the room, she stumbled with the amount of energy she had gotten.

Rena reached out to her right and grabbed someone's arm as the energy of the room made her head swim.

"Are you alright?" came an Aussie accent, and she looked up to see that it had been John's shirt she had grabbed.

"Yes," she gasped, putting a hand to her temple and standing up straighter. She felt herself speaking without understanding why. "It's just- I've never felt so much negative energy from a Church before... I have a bad feeling about this place... Bad things have happened here..."

John put a hand on the girl's back as she stood up again, like he was trying to soothe her somehow, but then removed it quickly.

Suddenly, a man approached them. He wasn't Japanese, but maybe Irish by his accent. He had silver hair and blue eyes.

"Thank you all for coming," the man said, bowing at them.

"It's not a problem," Naru said. "Please, tell us everything you know."

The man took a deep, shaky breath and looked back up to the small cross hung up on the wall.

"I called you all here because... Our church... We can't keep a priest... They keep dying," the man said, the saddest of expressions coming across his face. "The last few years, every priest that comes to sermon here has died in a violent manner. I've been attending this church since I was a teenager, but this only started a few years ago. Nobody knows what it is. The priests would try to cleanse the church, but they never lived through it. We've had to stop all services here because everyone feared for their lives."

"Woah, woah, woah," Monk exclaimed in surprise. "Are you trying to say that your church is cursed or something?"

The man looked down, a desperate expression on his face.

"I don't know. That's why I called you all here. I heard that maybe you could help," he replied.

"We can," Naru added. "Do you have a floor plan of this church?"

The man nodded quickly, eager to help in any way possible.

"Yes. There's one in the office," he replied. "I'll go and get them for you."

He bowed again and exited the room, leaving the Shibuya Psychic Research team alone.

"Miss Hara," Naru said to Masako. "Do you sense any spirits here?"

As Naru asked Madako questions, Rena suddenly glanced over at one of the church pews and felt strongly drawn to it. She found her legs moving her to the pew before she even knew it.

"I can't sense any spirits," Masako replied in her quiet voice. "But I have a bad feeling about this place."

Rena saw her hands move of their own accord and pick up the Bible that was sitting in the holder.

Some sort of energy seemed to be radiating from the book itself, and it suddenly opened in her hands.

"Ah!" Rena gasped quietly as the cover flipped itself open and the pages started turning themselves rapidly.

"What's going on?" Monk called to her, and everyone looked up to see what was going on.

"I- I don't know," Rena called back as the pages finally settled down.

It had stopped on the first page of the Book of John. Rena stared down at the page in disbelief.

"What did it stop on?" Naru seemed to demand from her.

Rena felt her cheeks slightly grow warm, not really wanting to say out loud, because a man of the same name was standing in the room.

"Uh- the Book of-" she started.

Suddenly, the page ripped itself out of the spine, viciously, making a loud tearing noise.

The paper fluttered to the ground silently.

Rena glanced back down at the Bible, and saw that the tear had ripped right down the middle of the name John, leaving only the 'Jo'.

She only stared down in shock, wondering what it meant.

"What happened?" Naru approached her and picked up the ripped half of paper from the floor, studying it in curiosity.

"I don't understand," Rena whispered, feeling her arms trembling as they held up the Bible. She closed it again and set it down on the church pew, turning back to Naru.

He didn't say anything, but folded up the ripped piece of paper and slid it in his pocket.

"Here are the floor plans," the man walked back into the room, holding what looked like a folded map. He handed it over to Naru, who nodded at him.

"Thank you. We can begin this investigation tonight," Naru told him.

The man looked extremely grateful, and turned to leave the church.

"Mai, record the temperatures of each room," Naru instructed.

Mai saluted him.

"Right," she said, hurrying to do as requested.

As everyone started setting up cameras and microphones in each of the rooms, Naru cast a glance in Rena's direction.

She looked over and locked eyes with him, his gaze seemingly searching her soul. She couldn't tell if his expression was curious or not, and she wondered if he'd figured out that ripped piece of paper.

He turned away from her, and Rena shook her head in confusion.


	3. Chapter 3

***Hiiii! Thanks for checking out my third chapter! Let me know what you thinkkkk! :-) ***

Chapter Three: Sticks and Stones

Naru walked into the next room, intent on putting a camera up to where it could see the main front door, but someone walked in behind him.

He turned around and saw Lin approaching, a serious expression on his face.

"You need to stay away from her," Lin told him.

"Don't be stupid, Lin," Naru replied, continuing to put the camera on the wall toward the door.

"I'm serious," Lin added. "The girl is powerful. There's something strange going on with her."

"How would I figure everything out if I stayed away from her?" Naru asked in monotone.

"It doesn't matter," Lin said sternly. "I don't know what it is, but something dark surrounds her."

"I appreciate the warning, but I can take care of myself," Naru replied sarcastically.

Lin grabbed Naru's arm and turned him around, angrily.

"Have you forgotten why I'm even here?" Lin demanded.

"Excuse me?" a voice said from the doorway.

Both men turned and saw Masako, in her dark blue kimono.

"What?" Lin demanded again to her.

"I just wanted to inform you that I have been sensing dark presences in the top floor of the church," Masako answered.

Naru nodded, taking in the information.

"What are you getting from Rena Kiyoko?" Lin asked her.

Masako looked down at the ground, a sleeve-covered hand covering her mouth.

"I get mixed signals from her," Masako replied. "I sense power within her, but it's not exactly good power. It's not exactly bad power, either, though."

The men were both silent as that information sank in.

...

Rena was on the top floor of the church, helping Mai record temperatures of the last few rooms.

"So," Mai turned to her. "How long have you been having the nightmares you were talking about?"

Rena was surprised that Mai had remembered that from earlier but answered anyway.

"I started having them when I was a kid, just after my mom died," Rena explained.

"Oh, I'm so sorry," Mai apologised, looking shocked. "I didn't mean to bring it up."

"It's alright," Rena said with a smile. "It was a long time ago."

"Well, I bet your mother was very nice," Mai returned the smile.

"She was," Rena replied. "She was English."

Mai looked at her again with new eyes.

"Woah, you're half-English?" Mai inquired.

Rena laughed.

"Yeah."

The two girls wrote the temperatures for the last two rooms, and walked back out into the hallway, where John and Monk were setting up a camera to aim down the hall.

"Hey," Monk called to Rena. "What the hell was that down there?"

"What do you mean?" Rena asked.

He hopped down off of a small step-ladder and wiped his hands off on his pants.

"The thing with the Bible?" Monk explained further. "What happened?"

"Oh," Rena laughed nervously. "I'm not really sure what that was. Something was moving the pages and I could feel this odd energy coming from the Bible."

Monk put a hand on his chin.

"Man, whatever's in this church is pretty powerful," Monk replied, sounding almost worried. "Usually spirits don't show themselves on the first day of an investigation."

"Let's get back downstairs so Naru can tell us what's going on," Mai said heading back down the stairs.

Monk walked behind her, and John stood up from the floor where he'd been taping the cords alongside the edges of the hall so nobody would trip in the dark.

Rena looked at him and he gave her a small smile.

As John started to turn away, Rena felt a sudden urge to get to know the friendly Aussie. She watched him for a small moment and then it was as if something in the air fizzled between them.

Suddenly, Rena's head pounded like someone was smashing it with a hammer. She doubled over, with her hands pressed against her temples to relieve the pressure.

"Are you alright?" John asked worriedly, noticing her strange behaviour. He approached her, holding his arms out as if she would faint.

"There's something..." Rena said, feeling a presence surround her.

She felt a hand grab her ankle-

Then she was yanked off her feet, slamming heavily on to the floor, and being dragged down the hallway.

Rena's breath was momentarily knocked from her lungs by the impact, but then she screamed, clawing at the ground, trying to stop herself.

"Rena!" John yelled, and she saw him running after her, reaching toward her, his fingers trembling.

Monk and Mai were following, their eyes wide in fear.

Whatever was dragging Rena slammed her into the wall as she turned a corner into a room. John almost caught up with her as she turned, and he stumbled against the wall in his speed.

He recovered quickly, and reached his hands out, but he was a few seconds too late, and their fingers only brushed before Rena was dragged into a dark room with wooden floors.

She flew into a closet and smacked her head against the back wall.

Stars danced before her vision as John ran into the room, looking around frantically, his blond hair hanging in his face.

Then, suddenly, John's feet were pulled out from under him, and he was dragged into the closet as well, on his back.

"Hey-!" Monk came crashing into the room and watched in horror as John was tossed into the closet and the door slammed shut with a deafening bang.


	4. Chapter 4

***Author's Note: Hellooo! Thanks for checking my story out! Please review and let me know what you think! :-) **

**I also don't own any of the Ghost Hunt characters besides my own OC! **

**RECAP: Something has dragged Rena and John into a closet. ****

Chapter Four: Naru Knows Something

It was disconcertingly quiet for a few moments inside the closet, then Rena heard John breathing as her head lessened it's pounding.

"John?" Rena whispered.

"Yeah- I'm right here," he replied, his voice beside her ear.

"What just happened?" Rena asked.

"Somethin' grabbed my ankle," he replied.

"Mine too," Rena said.

As her eyes adjusted to the darkness, she could see that John was leaning against the same wall she was, his blue eyes wide.

"The hand- it was warm," John said suddenly. Rena looked back over to him in surprise.

"It was... It was hot," she agreed.

"Hey! Are you guys okay?!" Monk suddenly yelled, pounding his fists on the door to the closet.

"Yeah!" Rena yelled back.

"We're alright!" John called.

"The closet door's locked! We- we can't get you out!" Monk added. "Try opening the door from the inside and see if that works!"

Rena was the closest to the doorknob so she stood up on shaky legs and reached her hands out.

She grasped the knob and twisted with all of her might, but it wouldn't budge.

"It won't turn here, either!" Rena called out, frantically trying to turn the doorknob, but to no avail.

"We'll go get Naru!" Rena heard Mai yell.

"Hang tight, guys!" Monk hollered, and then their footsteps faded out down the hall.

Rena plopped back down on the floor to the closet, suddenly becoming all-too aware of how close she had to sit to John in the small space.

"So- how old are you?" Rena asked out of pure uncomfortableness.

He glanced over at her with his wide blue eyes before answering.

"Nineteen," he replied.

Rena stared at him in surprise. He looked quite a bit younger than that, but she didn't comment.

"Oh, me too," Rena said, as the silence overtook once again.

"Small world," John added, awkwardly. "So, er, before... When you pushed me out the road, how did you know 'bout that?"

He looked at her curiously, as if he'd been wondering about it the entire time.

Rena took a deep breath and met his inquiring gaze.

"I, um, I had this dream type of thing... But I was awake... And I saw you fall out into the road in front of a truck," Rena explained.

"So you had a vision," John added, knowingly, nodding his head once.

"I guess you could call it that," Rena said, a bit dubious. "But after I had it, I got this overwhelming urge... I had to go over there and push you out of the way." She took a deep breath. "At first I just thought it was a coincidence, seeing the same Catholic Church that I'd seen in my dream."

"How did you know it was a Catholic Church?" John asked her. "They aren't common 'round these parts of Japan."

"My dad was a Catholic priest before he died," Rena replied, quietly, bringing her knees up to her chest and hugging her arms around them. The memories of her father came crashing back suddenly.

"What?!" John seemed to gasp in shock. "A Catholic priest?!"

"Yeah," Rena said, giving him an odd glance. "What's wrong?"

He looked her dead in the eyes for a long moment, not saying anything. She stared into the endless blue of his gaze, and felt her cheeks heat up a bit.

"Hey!" came Monk's voice from outside the closet door. "Are you guys still okay in there?!"

Rena finally broke eye contact with John, her heart thumping in her ears, and looked over at the door.

"Yes! We're still here!" Rena yelled back.

"Miss Kiyoko," came Naru's voice. "Tell me what happened."

Rena wondered why he would ask such a question when Monk and Mai had obviously seen everything.

"I got this really strong headache," Rena started. "Then I felt a hand grab my ankle. I was dragged down the hall and thrown in a closet. John followed me to help, and the spirit grabbed him, too-"

Her voice was shaking the longer she spoke.

"Are you feeling any sort of energy right now?" Naru asked from the other side of the door.

Rena hesitated, feeling her heart pounding in her throat because of the prolonged eye contact with her fellow captive.

"N-no," Rena replied. "Not anymore."

"Miss Hara," Naru must have been speaking to the younger psychic. "Do you sense any spirits here?"

"I... I feel evil," Masako's weak voice responded. "There is something evil in this church... Something dangerous. I feel it strongly."

"I feel it too," Mai added. "Something bad is going to happen to Rena and John if they stay in there much longer!"

"Takigawa," Naru said, his voice urgent. "Break the door down."

"What-?!" Monk exclaimed.

"Hurry," Naru told him. "There's not much time."

Everything was silent for a second. John leaned forward a bit and put a hand on Rena's shoulder.

"Get back," he said quietly, beside her ear. Rena gave him a confused look, then someone slammed into the closet door.

It splintered a bit in the middle, sending wood shards toward their faces.

Monk rammed it again, and someone else out in the room was hitting the door with a metal object.

Rena could feel some energy growing unstable at all the violence in the room... Like some sort of beast awakening.

"Hurry-" Rena exclaimed to them. "Something's coming!"

"Ah!" John gasped, letting go of her shoulder. "Somethin' grabbed my arm!"

"Watch out!" Monk yelled, and gave the door a final ram. The door broke in the middle and Rena could see Monk's worried face through the crack.

Someone grabbed a hold of the door and practically ripped it off the hinges, allowing Rena and John passage out.

"Go first," John told her, giving her a gentle push toward the opening. Rena didn't question it. She crawled her way through the busted opening and saw that it had been Lin who'd ripped the door from the hinges.

Monk held out his hand and Rena took it gratefully.

"Thanks," she breathed, almost tripping over the splintered wood.

John crawled out after her, shaking his head to remove the dust.

"That was close," Rena said, feeling the energy in the air fizzle back down to normal.

"From now on," Naru announced, returning to his usual apathy. "Everyone stays in groups of at least two. We're dealing with a very advanced spirit here. We wouldn't want anyone getting hurt."

With that said, Naru turned and left the room.

Monk let go of Rena's hand and scratched the back of his head.

"Is it just me," Ayako said, "or is he a bit more on-edge than usual?"

"I'm sure he'll calm down once the investigation is over," John added. "You know how Kazuya gets."

"Yeah," Monk replied. "It's just this case is freaking him out. This is the most activity we've ever seen on the first night."

Rena looked around at everyone, trying to figure out what was going on with the spirits in the church.

With a sigh, she only followed everyone out of the room and back into the hallway.


	5. Chapter 5

**** Hello! Thank you so much for reading! Please comment and let me know what you think! ^_^ I hope you all like it! ****

Everyone slept inside the church that night. In the basement there were a few rooms that could be divided amongst the boys and girls.

Rena didn't mind sleeping in the basement very much, although she knew that once the sun set, she'd be seeing things in a different light.

The church basement looked similar to the one at the church her father had preached at.

There was a refrigerator with basic foods, and a pantry. A few tables, and a short hallway with a bathroom and a few bedrooms.

Because the church was a bit old, it was designed for those who preached and also lived in the church. This practice was out of style, but everyone found it easier to just leave the church the way it was.

Everyone had set the cameras up on the main and top floors of the church, with only one camera in the kitchen of the basement.

Lin set up his computers in the dining area of the basement, so he had a visual of every single room just from that one location. This way, he could keep watch and record whatever he wanted.

"Alright, here's what we're going to do," Naru informed them all once the sun had set and they were ready to retire for the night. "We're going to take shifts watching the cameras. Because there are eight of us, we'll do the watch in four pairs of two. I'll be with Lin for the first shift. Miss Matsuzaki will watch with Father Brown next. Miss Kiyoko will be with Takigawa, and Mai will be with miss Hara."

Something he'd said caught Rena's attention but she didn't get a chance to question it before Masako cut in.

"I would like to say that I do not want to be in a group with miss Taniyama," Masako complained quietly. "I usually wouldn't say anything, but tonight there is no exception. I would rather be in a group with Miss Kiyoko."

Everyone looked at Masako in surprise.

"I have reasoning for my pairs, Miss Hara," Naru stated coldly. "Miss Kiyoko must be in a group with Takigawa because she is the newest member and thus doesn't have as much control over her abilities. If they were in trouble, Takigawa's defence is better in a sudden attack."

Masako upturned her nose in displeasure, and thought for a moment.

"If that's your reasoning, then shouldn't miss Kiyoko be with Father Brown?" Masako replied. "They are the only two the spirit has shown any interest in. Maybe putting them together will coax a reaction. Father Brown is a master at exorcisms and miss Kiyoko wouldn't be in any danger. Then Ayako could be with me, and Monk could go with miss Taniyama."

Naru stared at Masako for a moment, thinking about what she had said.

"Why... Why are you all saying 'Father Brown'?" Rena suddenly asked, her eyebrows creased together.

"What?" Monk asked her, with a slightly amused expression. "You didn't know?"

"Father Brown is a priest for the Catholic Church," Naru stated, giving off the sense that he thought she was a moron.

"A- priest-?" Rena gasped, her head suddenly feeling as if it were full of swarming bees.

"Yes..." someone's voice echoed in Rena's mind, as darkness faded into her vision, and she passed out cold.

...

Rena saw herself as a child, huddled in the corner of a hospital room.

She saw her long brown hair covering her face, as her fingers came up to wipe the tears from her cheeks.

"Daddy?" she whispered in a trembling voice.

Her father was standing a few feet away from her, dressed in his long black priests' robes, talking to another man- his helper.

Rena knew her father's helper because he was so nice to her. He always talked to her whenever he came to visit her father.

The helper worked at the church her dad preached at.

But now here they were.

Her father was talking to his friend in the dark room. Only lit by candles, the room was cast in creepy shadows that gave the young Rena fear.

"I hope the exorcism was successful," her dad said, not hearing his daughter call his name.

"Unless the spirit was too strong, your wife should be fine now," his assistant replied, putting a hand on his shoulder.

Rena glanced over at the hospital bed that was across the room. Her mother was strapped to the metal bars, her hair wild. She seemed to be asleep, so Rena stood back up.

"Daddy?" Rena whispered again. "Is mommy okay now?"

Her dad looked over at her and gave her a grin, his brown eyes warm and friendly.

"Of course, honey," he replied, approaching her and picking her up in a hug. "Mommy is completely okay now. We just have to give her some time. The Lord will heal her internally, just as we've prayed for."

"Okay," Rena replied, fearfully.

Suddenly, the woman on the bed jerked her arms violently, and a snapping noise was audible as the straps that had held her broke with the force.

Rena's mother screamed and she jumped from the bed, meeting her daughter's frightened gaze with her own red possessed one.

"Your Lord can't help you now," her mother had said in a voice that wasn't anything like before. "This curse shall follow you until the pact has been fulfilled. There is no saving your family. You're all damned to Hell."

Then, the woman turned her back to them and burst through the glass window, falling to her death from three stories.

"No!" Rena's father had screamed, running over to the window and looking down. He quickly turned to his helper, with a desperate expression on his face. "Stay with Rena! I- I have to call an ambulance!"

Her dad rushed out of the room, his black robes flying out behind him as the door shut.

The little girl never forgot the demonic look in her mother's eyes that night.

She cried in the arms of her father's assistant.


	6. Chapter 6

**** Hi! Thanks for reading! I didn't realise how many reviews I was getting on this! So to celebrate, here's an extra-long chapter! :-)**

**Thanks to foxchick1, MCRDanime, leebee14, MusicOfMadness, sisem3, and mweebles for all reviewing! I really appreciate your guys' support! So thank you! **

**I hope you love this extra long chapter! Please let me know what you think! ****

"Rena!" a voice called, sounding so far away. "Rena, please! Can you hear us?"

She squeezed her eyes shut tighter, not understanding where she was. Something was warm around her, like a blanket.

"J-John?" Rena asked, hearing the voice.

"Yes! Yes, it's me," she heard him say again, sounding relieved. "Can you open your eyes?"

Rena didn't want to try. Her eyelids felt heavy like bricks so she groaned.

"What happened?" came Naru's voice somewhere above her.

"I don't know," Rena groaned again, trying to raise her hand to feel the back of her head, but she couldn't move her arm. "I- I just got so dizzy..."

"Someone help her sit up," Monk threw in.

Rena suddenly felt someone's arm on her back, helping her into a sitting position, and she finally forced her eyes to open.

She saw that Lin was the one who had helped her sit up, and as she opened her eyes, he moved himself away from her.

John was to her immediate left, with Naru beside him. Monk was on her right, with Ayako and Masako. Lin was behind her, and Mai was next to her feet.

Rena was sitting on the ground, covered in a blanket of some kind.

She finally raised a hand to her head, which was still a bit dizzy from before, and felt her cheeks grow warm from embarrassment.

"I'm sorry," Rena apologised. "I didn't mean to cause a scene."

"It's alright, mate," John smiled at her.

"We were just worried about you," Monk added, giving her a concerned glance. "You looked pretty freaked out when we said that John was a priest."

"Oh," Rena remembered, rubbing the back of her neck awkwardly. She knew that she'd caused a big scene, but she didn't understand what had happened. Why had she reacted like that?

"You don't have a thing against Catholics, do you?" Monk joked, giving her a wink and a playful elbow to the side.

"No! It's not that!" Rena exclaimed, taking his joke too seriously. "I- I'm actually Catholic myself- but- I just had- all these memories come rushing back..."

She looked down at the ground, trying to quell the nausea that had begun to rise.

"What? No way," Monk exclaimed, surprised.

"You're Catholic too?" Mai inquired, her brown eyes widening at the news.

"Interesting," Naru commented, bringing a hand to his chin in thought.

Rena blushed from all of the attention, and tried to stand up.

"Please don't make a big deal about it," she told them all as John reached a hand out to help her up.

She took it and made it to her standing position, dusting her clothes off.

"Whatever you say," Monk replied, waving a hand in the air casually.

"I suggest we get back to more important matters and figure out the watch pairs now," Naru cut in, in an agitated manner. "We don't have all night, after all."

"That was a mean thing to say, Naru!" Mai yelled at him. "You can't just insinuate that other peoples' feelings aren't important like that!"

He gave her an exasperated expression, before turning to walk to the tables beside the kitchen.

Everyone followed, ready to start the first night of surveillance.

...

In the end, Rena was paired with John Brown after all, so Masako could be with Ayako.

To Rena, the two girls didn't seem like a strong group together because she hadn't seen Masako or Ayako do anything productive since she'd been there. But, to be fair, she hadn't seen anyone do anything productive apart from Monk and Mai running to get Naru when the spirit had trapped them in the closet.

Rena didn't know for sure, but it seemed a bit strange that Naru would change his entire watch schedule just because Masako had wanted it.

Rena shrugged it off, and decided to try and get some sleep, because her and John's watch wasn't until one in the morning.

The watch teams went as thus: Naru and Lin from eleven pm to one am; Rena and John from one to three; Monk and Mai from three to five; Masako and Ayako from five to seven.

Rena hoped they'd catch something on tape and could end this terrifying investigation as soon as possible.

She walked down the hall toward the girls' bedrooms, but someone grabbed her arm, pulling her off to the side into the shadows.

She turned around in surprise, but saw that it was only Monk. He gave her a grin and let go of her wrist.

"Monk!" Rena gasped, putting a hand to her heart. "What are you still doing up?"

"I wanted to show you something," he replied, his face turning serious. "I know you're Catholic and all, but I would feel better about you doing the watch with John if you knew some warding magic."

"Warding magic?" Rena repeated.

"Yes. If a spirit comes near you, and it's too quick for John to react, put your hands like this," Monk put his hands together, and pointed his finger out. Rena copied him, curiously. "Then," he continued, "you say this: On nōmaku sanmanda basaradan kan."

"On nōmaku sanmanda basaradan kan," Rena repeated it again and again, trying to memorise it.

"Good," Monk gave her a smile. "Not that I don't have faith in John's technique. I just want you to be able to protect yourself in case you ever get separated again."

"Thanks," Rena returned his smile. "So 'Monk' is more than just your name, hm?"

"You bet. It really comes in handy during times like this. Anyway, you'd better hit the sack," Monk said. "Your watch starts in two hours."

"Yeah," Rena agreed, giving him a quick bow before she left. "I really appreciate your help."

"It's no problem," Monk grinned, giving her an affectionate slap on the back.

Rena turned away from him finally, and walked into the girls' bedroom, wearing a pair of pajamas she'd borrowed from Mai, and saw that Ayako had made beds on the floor from a bunch of blankets and sheets. There was only one room with an actual bed, and the boys got that to fight over.

Mai and Masako were throwing pillows on to the blankets, not looking each other in the eye because of their little disagreement earlier.

"Hey, Rena," Ayako said to her. "Because you have the earliest watch, you can take the bed by the door."

"Alright," Rena agreed, with a laugh. "That way I won't have to step on anyone getting out."

"Exactly!" Ayako replied, smiling, as Mai laughed as well.

Masako only put a hand to her mouth, her eyes growing wide with worry.

"I don't understand," Masako whispered to herself.

Everyone glanced over at her.

"What don't you understand?" Mai questioned.

"The spirits in this church... They're so evil... The energy around them is so negative... I've never felt such evil energy in one place before," Masako explained quietly.

"Well, I guess we'll see what happens on this watch," Ayako replied. "Lin and Naru have the first, so maybe they'll see something."

Masako bowed her head and gingerly sat down on her section of the sheets.

"Maybe," she whispered.

Mai turned the lights out and everyone sat down, hoping nothing too strange happened to them while they slept.

...

Rena found herself walking down a dark corridor, in her dream. It was her usual dream- her nightmare- and her legs started trembling as she continued down the hallway.

She knew what was coming.

Suddenly, she was outside, being almost blinded by the bright white light all around her.

Rena waited- knowing that the man in the black would show up- and he did.

He appeared from the light, and at first Rena felt herself shielding her eyes from the blinding rays. But she knew that she had to keep staring into the light, because there was something in the light that she had to see.

Then, she got this paralysing compulsion- she had to reach out to the man. She had to save him somehow...

The man in the black robes continued walking towards her, but the sunlight faded his face. She was still unable to see who it was, no matter how hard she tried.

Rena tried to reach her arms out, but it was as if her body was unable to move anymore.

The man walked on...

But then... Something changed.

The man stopped walking and looked right at her. Rena's heart smashed against her chest as if it could escape somehow. She tried to speak, but her lips couldn't move.

The man stood there, staring at her with eyes she couldn't see, for what seemed forever.

Rena knew this was her chance! She could warn him that something bad was about to happen to him! If only she could make her throat work-

The man continued walking past her, as tears burned the back of Rena's eyes.

He disappeared into thin air and Rena knew that something terrible had happened to him-

She had failed-

...

Her phone buzzed underneath her pillow as her alarm went off.

She sat bolt upright and looked around the room for a moment in disorientation. Her dream had been so bright, and the room around her now was so dark.

Her nightmare had changed... But... What did it mean?

Rena reached underneath the pillow and switched off the alarm.

It was 12:50 in the morning because she had allowed herself some time to pull her jeans on before going out to start her watch.

Leaving her pink button-up pajama shirt on, she tucked the bottom into her jeans and slid her shoes on before quickly brushing her hair.

She quickly walked down the hallway in the dark, and saw a couple of small lights on at the tables by the kitchenette.

The screens of several computers glowed green on the faces of Lin, Naru and John.

"Glad you finally made it," Naru told her, sarcasm hinting in his voice.

"Finally?" Rena questioned. "I'm two minutes early."

"Here's what you both need to do," Naru continued on, completely ignoring her comment. "These computers are connected to the cameras upstairs, numbered according to room. These ones are the main floor. This one's to the church entrance. And this last one's pointed at the kitchen. If you see anything, Lin will be sleeping right inside the door to our room. Get him immediately."

Naru suddenly turned to Rena.

"If you feel any surge of negative energy, be very cautious. If anything seems suspicious to you, get Lin," he ordered.

"Okay," Rena replied, hesitantly.

"Father Brown, you know what to do," Naru said to him before turning away.

"Right," John answered, confidently.

"Be careful," Naru said, still in his apathetic voice. "Mai and Takigawa will come to relieve you at three o'clock precisely."

Naru started walking down the hallway to the boys' bedroom, with Lin following behind.

A click was heard as the door shut behind them.

Rena and John were left alone in the dining section.

It was dark all around them, and they both turned to a computer screen to watch for a while.

Silence overcame them for a moment before Rena decided to say something.

"So, we just sit here and watch the cameras for two hours?" she inquired.

John turned to her and gave her a smile.

"That's about right," he replied. "We may be in luck, though. Usually nothin' of substance happens till three or so."

Rena stared at the computer screens, the green of the night vision seeming to almost hypnotise her.

"Hey, John?" Rena asked, turning back to him a bit.

"Yes?" he replied, still facing the camera but turning his head in her direction.

"I'm sorry for reacting so violently to the news that you were a priest," Rena said, not meeting his gaze. "I honestly didn't mean to cause a scene, and I really didn't mean to insult you or anything."

"Eh, you didn't insult me," John answered with a small cheerful laugh, rubbing the back of his neck. "I already knew at the time that your father was a priest. I just assumed that maybe being surprised like that brought back bad memories for you." He hesitated, with a blush reddening his cheeks a bit. "There's somethin' going on with you, I can tell."

Rena's eyes widened in surprise at those words.

"Going on with me?" she repeated. "What's that mean?"

"Oh," John's blush deepened and he smiled awkwardly, his eyes closing. "I- I meant you're powerful- I heard Kazuya talkin' about you, and he sounded impressed with what you can do- not that I couldn't tell that myself but-" John's eyes suddenly widened as if he'd let something slip, and he waved his hands a bit. "N-not that I was payin' attention to you or anythin'- but not that I wasn't lookin' but-"

"It's okay!" Rena laughed, putting her hands up in a gesture of surrender. "I know what you mean."

The poor guy looked completely at a loss for what to say next, so he ran a hand through his tousled blond hair.

Rena was suddenly very aware of John, and the way he was looking down to avoid her gaze.

It was as if something had come into the room with them and was affecting their behaviour. Some sort of energy.

Rena glanced around quickly, but everything looked the same shrouded in darkness.

She turned to John, and knew he felt that something was going on- but her mind clouded so quickly.

Rena glanced back up and John was looking at her, his clear blue eyes wide with some sort of emotion.

There was a connection between them suddenly, making Rena feel as if she'd known John for years...

She heard him gulp, and then he slowly bent his head forward, towards her own, his blond hair falling into his face.

Rena found herself leaning in his direction, her eyes closing like-

As if-

She stood up suddenly, breathing heavily, knocking her chair over behind her. Her face heating up, Rena tried to find her voice.

John blinked quickly, as if only just realising what had almost happened.

"Did- did you feel the energy change?" Rena asked John, who gave her a relieved expression.

"If that's what that was- then yes," he replied, glancing off toward the ground, his face almost as red as Rena imagined her own to be.

"I think- It's gone now," Rena sensed, closing her eyes to concentrate better. "I don't feel it anymore."

John seemed to sigh in relief.

"Let's keep watching the screens," Rena added quietly, turning back around to fully face the computers.

"Good idea," John agreed, his voice shaking a bit.

He turned around in his seat as well, letting the quiet settle around them.

Well. That had been awkward.

She tried to keep her thoughts focused on the computer screens, and not the boy sitting beside her.

What had even happened?

After a while, Rena thought that maybe the spirits were affecting her moods for some reason, but she didn't know why they would do such a thing.

It was so quiet, and Rena was so concentrated on thinking and watching the screens that John's sudden voice startled her.

"What was your father like?" he asked her, causing her to jump in her seat. "Oh, sorry," he added. "Didn't meat to startle ya."

"It's alright," Rena replied with a laugh. She took a deep breath and leaned her head in a hand. "Well... My dad was... a wonderful father. He was so caring to everyone. I could tell even at a young age that he was in love with my mother." Rena gazed off into the darkness as the memories came back to her. "And he was so devoted to his church. He truly believed what he taught, and worked so hard to live his teachings. He and my mother wanted to have more kids, but they never could." Rena chuckled to herself a bit and sighed as more memories assaulted her. "My father used to tell me all the time that God must have really had something planned for me. Making me an only child caused me to spend more time with my parents, so maybe that's what he meant..."

Rena hesitated to think for a moment, then realised that she was rambling and laughed again. "I'm sorry. I sort of got carried away."

"No, it's alright," John replied in his kind voice. He met her gaze and smiled at her. "It's kinda nice to hear someone else talk like that. I'm used to bein' round lots of religious people, but bein' here in Japan... I feel sorta..."

"Alone?" Rena more stated than asked, but John nodded anyway.

"That's as good to describe it as any other," John added, shrugging a bit. "It's not that I feel alone, 'cause I'm round the Shibuya Psychic Research Team quite often... But... It's just nice to be round someone who understands."

John gave her another smile, and Rena returned it, feeling her heartbeat quicken for some reason, so she glanced toward the computer screens again.

"Whatever happened to your father, if you don't mind me askin'," John added, curiously.

Rena wondered briefly why she never seemed to have spoken seven words to John, but tonight he was quite the chatterbox.

"I don't mind you asking, but I have to warn you... It's kind of a gruesome story," Rena replied.

"No worries," John said, cocking his head a bit. "I'm right with it if you are."

Rena gulped, and felt her arms shaking as they leaned against the tables.

"Well, as you know, my father was a priest. All I remember is that my mother was possessed by something, and my dad and his friend tried to do an exorcism on her..." Rena gulped again. "Um... The exorcism didn't work for some reason, and my mother ended up dying. My dad was really upset about it. The next thing I knew, my dad was gone- he never came back home. My dad's friend told me that he killed himself."

"I see," John said, quietly.

"But he didn't," Rena added, confidently.

"Wh- what do you mean?" John inquired, looking surprised and more than a little confused.

"I think... I think he was possessed too," Rena admitted.

John stared at her in shock, but then seemed to quickly compose himself.

"Why do you think that?" he asked.

"Because, the day after my mom died during the exorcism, my dad wasn't the same man anymore," Rena explained. "He wasn't only depressed. He wasn't... The same. He refused to do his sermons- he stopped attending the Divine Liturgy- he said he was too sick, but my father would NEVER give up his responsibilities just like that."

"Well, your father had just lost his wife," John said, trying to comfort her. "And you were young. Maybe it was just more than he could take."

"No," Rena insisted. "My father always had the bigger picture in mind. My old father- whenever something bad happened, he'd always say 'Don't worry about anything, Rena. This is all part of the Lord's plan'. The night my mother died, he sat me down and told me that there was a bigger picture that we couldn't see, but to have faith, because The Lord knew what he was doing. And then he.. It doesn't make any sense."

John listened to what Rena said in contemplative silence.

"Your father sounds like he had a good head on his shoulders," John commented.

"He did," Rena smiled. "But it wasn't only his religious ways that changed after my mother died. He didn't speak the same. He didn't do things the same way. He wasn't even my father anymore." She paused and looked John dead in the eye. "My father was a strong man. You have to be strong when you're a priest. He wouldn't have done that to himself. Not believing what he did about the effects. You have to believe me."

"I believe you," John replied. "I mean, you would know your own father."

Rena bowed her head suddenly, her shoulders shaking a bit.

"Thank you," she said.

John didn't know how to respond, as her words had confused him.

"Er... For what?" he asked.

Rena lifted her head and gave him a grateful smile.

"Well... You're the only one who's ever believed me," Rena replied.

John was silent for a moment, and turned to stare at the computer monitors again, a slight blush coming back up into his cheeks.

"Why didn't they believe you?" he finally asked quietly.

"They thought I was crazy," Rena sighed. "I can understand why, though, honestly. If I was a normal person and I heard somebody spouting all this about demon possession and suicides that aren't really suicides, I'd think they were crazy, too."

Rena sighed again and set her head in the crook of her arms, still keeping an eye on the computers.

"Well, don't you worry!" John exclaimed suddenly, making Rena jump a bit, startled. "I believe you, Rena. You're not crazy at all."

She stared at him, and he met her gaze confidently. Rena chuckled a bit and opened her mouth to say something, but-

Something in the air seemed to chill her to the bone. Her eyes slowly drifted between computer screens, as her gaze searched for what her soul already knew was there.

"John! Look!" Rena gasped, sitting up straight and pointing to a computer screen made green by the night vision.

The air seemed to still for a moment, and Rena felt the energy in the air suddenly become tense.

John looked over at the screen, his heart pounding in his ears, his eyes growing wider the longer he stared at the computer, fear slowing becoming visible in the blue unblinking orbs.

Rena and John watched, mouths dropped open, as a tall black figure stood on screen. The camera in the hall on the top floor was the one capturing the apparition. Rena remembered Masako telling her the top floor seemed to be where the most negative energy was coming from.

"What is that?" John whispered, his voice surprisingly calm despite the evil permeating the air around them.

Rena couldn't answer.

The figure on the screen was completely black, it's head pointed at the nose like some sort of bat. But it stood upright on two legs like a human being.

As nothing was heard but the pounding of Rena and John's hearts, the creature slowly turned around to face the camera.

It's black gaze seemed to be staring right into their eyes, and Rena felt the hair on her arms stand up.

Suddenly, it held an arm straight out in front of itself, it's claw-like fingers clenched in a fist.

For a moment, it didn't do anything. It just stood like that, arm out, eyes staring into the camera, silent.

Then it opened it's mouth and screamed.

The high-pitched wails vibrated the air, causing one of the computer screens to crack and shatter, and Rena and John covered their ears with their hands.

As the creature screamed, it opened it's fist and dropped something on the ground-

Rena leaned forward in her seat-

It was-

It was a match-

Fire suddenly shot everywhere, spreading down the hall, casting frightening orange light across the shadows.

Rena stood up in surprise, and saw John cross himself quickly.

"John!" Rena gasped. "The equipment- it's all up there- the cameras- the extra wiring-"

"We have to get Kazyua," John replied quietly.

But that wasn't good enough-

Suddenly, Rena found herself running out of the dining area, back up the stairs.

She didn't really know what she was doing, but she couldn't stop herself.

"Rena! Where are you going?!" John called quietly, following after her.

"I- I don't-" Rena gasped, still running, trying to stop but her legs carried her up the stairs faster than she thought she could ever go.

"Rena- stop!" She heard John's Aussie-accented voice yell behind her. "It's dangerous!"

But still she couldn't stop.


	7. Chapter 7

****Author's Note:: Helloooo! Thank you for reading! Please review and let me know what your opinions are! I really love writing this story because I really love John Brown's character! Sooo thank you for supporting me! :-)**

**I hope you enjoy this chapter! ****

Rena was running, the nerves in her body burning as if they were on fire. She couldn't stop herself from climbing the stairs although she knew that fire was blazing only feet away.

Rena burst into the hallway from the stairs, her heart about ready to explode from her chest.

She looked around quickly, trying to find the room where the extra equipment had been stored. Naru had planned on putting up more cameras if they'd gotten enough evidence during their first watch, but he'd had Monk put the extras in a back room.

Rena turned around to run down the hall, but then-

The creature was suddenly there, at the end of the hall- staring at her, engulfed by flames.

She took a few steps backwards, fear coursing through her veins- had it been a trap?

Had this- this creature influenced her again? To get her to run right to it?

Rena's legs were moving suddenly, and she started walking toward the creature.

"No," she gasped, trying to hold on to the walls, desperately trying to stop herself.

The beast held a clawed hand out, beckoning her toward him, making her walk to her death.

As the creature stared at her, she heard a voice. It whispered in the crackling air, not really coming from any place in particular.

Rena couldn't break eye contact with the beast.

"Cursed... Damned to hell... Forever..." the voice whispered all around her.

The creature opened it's beaked mouth, showing black pointed teeth- Rena's hand reached itself out toward it on it's own accord.

She was staring into the eyes of the beast, unable to comprehend anything but... but going with it...

Her fingers were so close to the claws of the creature's; he could snap out and grab her wrist at any moment...

Wham!

Suddenly, John rammed himself into her, sending them both sprawling on the ground, thumping against the wooden floors loudly.

The creature opened it's mouth again, making the appearance of a grin show on it's bat-like face.

It took a step toward them-

"In the beginning was the Word!" John yelled suddenly, turning toward the beast, a cross in his left hand. "And the Word was with God, and the Word was God!"

The creature paused in it's steps, staring at John with it's black gaze.

"He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him, nothing was made that has been made! In him was life! And that life was the light of all mankind!"

The creature reared back it's head and tried to take another step toward John and Rena, who were still on the ground. It screamed into the sky, piercing the air. Something glass shattered again, the sound flat against the sharp sound of the wailing.

"The light shines in the darkness!" John screamed over the creature's wails. "And the darkness has NOT overcome it!"

The beast suddenly shot into the sky, screaming the entire time, disappearing into the darkness up by the high ceilings of the church.

It was silent for one moment, then Rena realised that everyone had woken up and was standing at the top of the stairs, staring in shock, all in their pajamas.

The fire was gone- nothing was left behind as proof of the creature.

The hallways were completely empty and silent.

"What- what WAS that thing?!" Monk exclaimed in disbelief.

John and Rena were still on the ground, but John turned to her with wide eyes.

"Are you alright?" he asked her, removing himself from where he had partly laid across her to shield her from the beast that had been approaching.

"I- I think so," Rena replied, putting a hand to her temple. "What happened?"

John sighed, seeming relieved. He stood up and took her hand to help her up. She got off the ground onto her shaky legs and wrapped her arms around herself, flashes of what had happened popping into her mind.

"That thing was no spirit," John told them all, especially meeting eyes with Naru. "That was a demon. It's never been in human form." He turned back to Rena, with a worried expression. "It almost took ya."

"Took me?!" Rena exclaimed, her face paling.

John nodded, putting his cross back in his pocket.

"It's a strong one if it's been residing here at the church," John added. "Usually if a demonic source goes into a holy place, it weakens it, sometimes even destroys it..."

"Wait," Naru's apathetic voice cut in, and everyone turned to look at him. "Father Brown, have you ever heard of a demon residing in a church before this?"

John thought for a moment with a hand to his chin.

"No," he replied. "Never."

"So, you're saying that it is extremely unusual for a demon to be on holy ground, yet that is exactly what we're dealing with now," Naru stated.

Everyone was silent.

"I reckon so," John replied. "That's exactly what I'm sayin'."

Naru looked around the room with half-interested eyes, only everyone's breathing audible in the quiet room.

"Father Brown and Miss Kiyoko, get back to your post down at the computers," Naru ordered. "Your watch still has an hour. Everyone else, get back to bed."

"Well, alright," Ayako replied, dubiously.

"If you say so," Monk added, with a hand behind his neck.

"And," Naru said, turning back to Rena and John, his eyes full of something like anger, "if you see something suspicious, get Lin this time. Your bad judgement almost cost us the entire investigation, not to mention the church could have burnt down to the ground."

Rena's face fell with surprise, as John laughed nervously and closed his eyes.

"It's not our fault," Rena told Naru insistently. "It's like something is messing with us. Besides, don't blame John. I'm the one who ran upstairs."

"You both made bad decisions tonight, so I won't pin it on just one of you," Naru replied angrily. "Just get back downstairs, and try not to get killed this time."

"Right," Rena said, grabbing John's arm and dragging him back down the stairs behind everyone else.

The church grew silent once again as everyone went back to normal.

But Rena's eyes met Naru's as she left, and knew that he was up to something.

She wondered what it was...

...

Rena and John didn't have any conversation for the last forty-five minutes of their watch.

Honestly, they were both exhausted, and quietly watched the computer screens for any other signs of paranormal activity.

They switched out the screen that had shattered for a new one, but they didn't see anything else suspicious on their watch.

Monk and Mai showed up at exactly three o'clock, looking exhausted themselves.

Monk approached Rena and clasped her shoulder, a sour half-smile on his face.

"See anything else worth mentioning?" he asked of her.

Rena shook her head.

"No," she replied, as John and Mai stood beside them.

"Good luck, mate," John told Monk as he watched Monk and Mai take their seats in front of the glowing computer screens.

"Thanks," Monk replied with a sigh.

"See you both tomorrow!" Mai added happily.

Rena and John nodded at them and slowly started walking down the short hallway that contained the bedrooms for the boys and the girls.

"Hey, John?" Rena asked, and he turned to face her a bit as they walked.

"Yes?"

"Earlier, upstairs," Rena started. "When I was in that odd trance... Did you hear a strange voice?"

"Strange voice?" John repeated, surprised.

"Yeah, it sounded like a whisper," Rena added.

"I didn't hear anythin' like that," John answered, seeming a bit disturbed by the thought.

"Oh," Rena said. "Just forget I said anything, then. I- I could have imagined it."

John didn't reply as they neared the spot they would have to part ways.

They both hesitated in the hallway, as if neither of them were ready to leave just yet.

Finally, Rena cleared her throat.

"Goodnight, John," she said.

"Er- good night, Rena," he replied, giving her a shy smile.

Rena felt her cheeks grow warm and turned around quickly to face her door. She opened the knob and walked inside, hoping John didn't see her blushing.

She heard her door click shut as she stepped into the darkness, but didn't hear John's door click shut for another minute or so.

Why did all of the strange things have to happen to her? Why was she feeling this way for a man who was a priest? Was it the spirits messing with her emotions? That had to be it; it was too coincidental.

She sighed and quietly plopped back down on her blankets, falling to sleep almost too quickly.


End file.
